1961 Topps #537 Bobby Locke
About Bobby Locke
Nineteen sixty-one was the only season Locke spent start to finish on a big-league roster. He appeared in 37 games for Cleveland, four of them starts, and finished 4-4 with a 4.53 ERA over 95.1 innings, walking more men (40) than he struck out (37) while surrendering 12 home runs. On November 27 the Indians sent him to the Chicago Cubs for second baseman Jerry Kindall, the deal that opened his years of drifting from club to club. His 1961 Topps card, #537, comes from the set's seventh series, a high number and one of the tougher pulls in that run.
Lawrence Donald "Bobby" Locke was a right-handed pitcher born March 3, 1934, in Rowes Run, Pennsylvania, the eighth of ten children in a coal-mining family. A football and baseball star at Redstone High School in Republic, Pennsylvania, he signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1953 for a $6,000 bonus offered by scout Laddie Placek, then led the Florida State League with 247 strikeouts as a 19-year-old at Daytona Beach. Two years in the Army interrupted his climb. He reached Cleveland in June 1959 and homered in his second big-league at-bat, a three-run shot off Frank Sullivan at Fenway Park that stood as the only home run of his career. Over parts of nine seasons with the Indians, Cardinals, Phillies, Reds, and Angels he went 16-15 with a 4.02 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 416.2 innings, starting just 23 of his 165 games and working almost entirely in relief after mid-1961. He pitched in Triple-A through 1969, later spent 26 years selling for Frito-Lay, and was elected to the Mid-Mon Valley and Fayette County sports halls of fame. He died June 4, 2020, in Dunbar, Pennsylvania.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 440 | 0 | 50 | 183 | 130 | 43 | 23 | 10 | 1 |
| SGC | 40 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. PSA counts are straight grades only; PSA half grades (PSA 1.5 among them) and qualified slabs are not included. SGC half grades fold down (8.5→8). Slabs of the two cards printed #463 are joined by description, never by number alone.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1961 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #467 Cleveland Indians Team
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #5 Johnny Romano
- #15 Willie Kirkland
- #18 Jim Grant
- #34 Wynn Hawkins
- #60 Woodie Held
- #77 Dick Stigman
- #101 Bubba Phillips
- #115 Johnny Antonelli
- #155 Johnny Temple
- #172 Don Dillard
- #191 Mike de la Hoz
- #222 Jimmie Dykes
- #255 Vic Power
- #274 Gary Bell
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1961 Topps #537 card?
It is card #537 of the 587-card 1961 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bobby Locke of the Cleveland Indians.
Why is #537 harder to find?
It is a high number card (cards 523-589) from the seventh and last print series - the scarce end of the set, including the 22 Sporting News All-Stars.
How many cards are in the 1961 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 596 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 589, but #426, #587 and #588 were never issued and two different cards were printed #463 - Jack Fisher and the Milwaukee Braves Team card, catalogued 463b - and eight cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-05.